Hellwig and County Board of Supervisors Vice Chairman Paul Sausville, Malta supervisor, presented the fiscal plan at a meeting in the County Complex Thursday.

The 2013 tentative county budget was $300.7 million.

In the budget documents, Alan Grattidge, chairman of the board of supervisors and Charlton supervisor, points out the county’s two most significant 2013 fiscal initiatives: the privatization of the unopened county landfill and the establishment of a local development corporation to privatize Maplewood Manor, the county-owned nursing home.

Finch Paper bought the landfill for $4 million in initial sale revenue, with the promise of a recurring revenue stream once the landfill begins operation.

As for Maplewood Manor, the county is considering five possible buyers, Hellwig said Thursday.

“We expect to complete that sale in 2014,” he said.

Because of this, the proposed 2014 budget’s general fund lacks a subsidy for Maplewood Manor for the first time in 10 years.

A 1.65 percent growth in the general fund balance, $237.5 million, is projected for next year. These monies, which Sausville calls the county’s rainy-day fund, have dropped, since they have been needed to cover unfunded mandates, among other appropriations.

At a cost of $62 million, unfunded state mandates — such as pensions, Medicaid and other social services — continue to cost more than property taxes bring in. That’s 118 percent of the proposed property tax levy. Medicaid is the most expensive of these mandates, projected at $25,358,740, which is 2 percent higher than 2013, according to the county’s calculations.

However, in 2014, the county will save more than $1.4 million by transitioning retirees to Medicare Advantage plans, Hellwig said. A change of health insurance carrier and collective bargaining agreements also have trimmed healthcare costs.

A continued hiring freeze, restructuring departments after attrition and salary freezes have helped keep down expenses, Sausville said.

The county’s key source of revenue is from sales tax, Hellwig said. This tax is budgeted at $110.7 million, reflecting a 2 percent growth over the 2013 projected revenues. The county will retain its 3 percent local sales tax rate, the lowest in New York state.

The property tax levy, budgeted at $52,454,500, a 1 cent increase per thousand dollars of assessed value, remains below the tax cap and one of the lowest rates in the state.

“Our operating budget is stabilizing and, in 2014, we will have our lowest anticipated usage of fund balance in seven years,” Hellwig said in a press release.

“We have sunshine on the horizon now,” Sausville said. “Good things are coming.”

The tentative budget will be presented to the Law and Finance Committee at 4 p.m. Nov. 7.